Briqueting of ores



F. A. VOGEL.

BRIQUETING 0F ORES. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 26, ms.

1,334, 33 1 Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

WITNESSES INVENTIOR ffL/XA. l/OGEL M FELIX A. voenn, or irnvironx, n.Y., ASSIGNOR roennnnn. BRIQUETTING comrmr, or NEW YORK, 1v. Y.,-Aoonrona'rxon or MAINE.

Biuonn'rme or ones.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar, 23, 1920.

Application filed October 26, 1918. SeriabNo. 259,804.

citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough ofManhattan, city, county,

and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovementsin the Briqueting ofOres, of which the following is aspecification.

Innumerable attempts have been' hereto- ,fore made to incorporate fineore particles in br-iquets and the present invention relates to a newmethod which in many respects is superior tothose heretofore employed.The present invention diflers primarily from the known methods ofbriqueting in that the medium relied upon to give solidity to thebriquet and to cause coherence is a nonbriquetable substance, to wit,carbon, preferably coal or coke. The presence of such coal in thebriquet is valuable from a metallurgical stand oint but the coal is notpresent in the briquet in the usual form of a mere admixture or in thecondition of an added ingredient but is present in the form of a bindingelement, which by itself imparts the characteristic of coherence andpermanence to the blocks.

In order to carry my invention into practice, the coal and ore areworked u on in an apparatus which is capable of grmding, mixing andmasticating the materials under'treatment. An apparatus adapted for thispurpose is a masticator but of special construction in which thecrushing wheels should have very wide rims and preferably centerdischarge so that they shall not only i have the capacity of crushingand grinding by reason of their weight but shall effect a mixing andmasticating of the different components of the mixture, the product being continuously withdrawn as the same is rendered fit for briqueting.The eiiect of this treatment is not only to crush the particles and tomix them together but to intercompound .them. Mere grinding and mixingwill not produce the result, but the grinding and mixing mustbeconducted on suehconditions that while the particles are undergoingreduction in size they are additionally moved relatively to each otherunder considerable pressure, as forexampl'e by the use of a set" ofheavy wide-rimmed wheels whose connecting axles are centrally piyotedwith respect to the bed. Inasmuc as these wheels are heavy and arerunning in a circular direction over the bed and the I'lIl'lS are wide,the outer edge of each wheel moves over a longer line than the inneredge of the same wheel by virtue of which fact a mast'ieating ormtercompoundin eflect is produced upon the parti les of con imrn osrArns PATENT orrrcn.

and ore. When these particles arev thus in tercompounded the resultwhich I aim at is brought about, There should beadded to the mixturesome additional substance, such for example as tar or oil, which isfluid in the mill and which during the grinding, mixing and masticatingoperation is worked into the coal particles. This ingredient is added inquantities appropriate to the coal used and. although it may in itselfhave some binding capacity is not present for any such purpose, beingnsufiicient in amount to support the briquet structurally, whilesufiicient to cause the coal when masticated with it to acquire thebindin quality required to hold the briquet toget er. This ingredientmay -for convenience ,be referred to as a stimulant for the operation.The result of notpossess in itself a binding property and practicallyany mineral, chemical, carbonaceous or catalytic material which underthe conditions described will set up binding conditions in the coal, maybe employed. Additional material, catalytic, adhesive or inert, may ofcourse be added. or may be present in the ore and the presence orabsence thereof does notaifect the present invention so long as theseadded ingredients do not destroy or supplant the function of themasticated coal as the uniting or cementing agency in the briquet.

The proportions of the respective ingredients are obviously to a largeextent subject to the preference of the operator, although the ore willalways be present as the dominant ingredient, with the coal inthe boundcondition as the ingredient second in order or equivalent means reliedupon for the purpose of securing proper operating conditions duringgrinding, mixing and masticating, is a relatively negligible quantity.

In the drawing I have illustrated a convenient arrangement of apparatusby the use of which the process may be carried out. The materials to bebriqueted are introduced into the hopper A, the belt B carries thematerial to the conveyer C. It is then introduced into one or morerotary driers D, to which heat is supplied from the oven E. ,The driedwarm and mixed material passes from the driers to the conveyer F bymeans of which the material is brought to the bin G. This bin isprovided with a gate H by means of which the dis charge can beregulated. The belt I carries the material which escapes through thegate H into the paddle mixer J. A supply of oil or other stimulant ismaintained in the tank K and the amount thereof added in the paddlemixer is controlled by the cock L. The material under treatment at thisstage is warm and dry. From the paddle mixer J the material enters thefluxer M to which steam is supplied from the header N. The gearing Ooperates paddles in the interior of the fluxer M. From the fluxer the.material passes through gate P into the masticator Q. From themasticator, in which the material is reduced to a condition ofcoherability, it is carried by the elevator R to the briqueting press S;The briquets are then carried by a further elevator T to a drier orstorage bin.

2. The process of briqueting ores which consists of subjecting a majorportion of finely divided ore, together with coal and a stimulanttherefor, to an intimate grinding, mixing and intercompounding operationuntil the entire volume of material under F treatment is converted intoa cohe'rablc mass possessing a cementing facility,.i'orming said massinto briquets and allowing same to harden. I

3. The process of making briquets in which coal is theagent to causecoherence in the briquet, which consists in warming and drying theparticles of coal, mixing with regulated proportions of the dry coal arestricted quantity of a stimulant, subjecting the mixture to the actionof moisture and then subjecting the moistened material to an intimategrinding, mixing and inter-compounding operation until the entire volumeof material under treatment is converted into a coherable mass possessina cementingfacility and then forming said mass into briquets.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

FELIX A. VOGEL.

